Menu Planning and Quick Bites

While I've been posting a bunch of pictures and recipe links of recent meals on Facebook, I realized it's been some time since I did a food-related post here on our blog. But before we get to the Quick Bites portion of our program, I want to take a short detour to talk about my menu planning.

I have a compulsion about making lists. Whether it's planning for a move, a trip, a house project, whatever, if a list or a project plan is needed, I'm your girl. Back in the day, I even used to make a list for what outfits I would wear during my work week. And even if a list isn't needed, I'll make one. This list obsession carries over to our dinners and weekly shopping. We do our shopping on Tuesdays, so starting about Sunday, I begin to think about what I want to make for the coming week. I peruse my online recipes (scanned a boatload before we moved here), troll my favorite food sites, and come up with a menu. Then I figure out what we need to buy at the fruit/veggie markets, grocery stores, butcher, chicken purveyor, and wherever else we need to stop. 

When I first mentioned this obsession/compulsion with lists to friends we've made here, they looked at me like I was absolutely bonkers. Turns out that most of them shop on the fly. But here's the thing: while I can figure out how to improvise if I can't find an ingredient or two, I need my structure. I need my menu. I need my list. I really, really don't like surprises, and prefer planned spontaneity. I know, I am one twisted sister. But be that as it may, I have found that making a weekly menu and shopping list eliminates lots of last minute runs to the stores and markets. 

And because some folks here just can't believe I do this, here is my menu & shopping list for this past week:

Now in days of yore (like when we lived in the States), I would have the grocery list compiled by aisle. I. Am. Not. Kidding. But because we never know what store will carry what items on any given week here in Corozal, and none of the stores seem to have a rhyme or reason as to how they organize things, I've had to let that list making element go, sorta'.

And in case you're curious, for those of you who might be used to one-stop shopping, it ended up taking seven stops to source most of everything on the list. Struck out finding radishes and celery seed/salt.

Now one might presume that my organizational skills would carry over to other areas of my life and, as such, my home would be the epitome of everything in its proper place. Think again. 

While I do tend to keep my kitchen area tidy, that's about as far as it goes. One peek inside my closet would tell a completely different story. For instance, people near and dear to me over the years have tried every possible method to get me to organize my shoes. Shoe trees, those bags you hang over the door, you name it, I've tried 'em all to no avail. Somehow the shoes always end up in a big heap on the floor. As I don't own anywhere near the shoes I did before moving here (but there are still quite a few), I have at least corralled them into a big, plastic bin...except for the ones that you'll find on the porch, or the living room, or next to my side of the bed. In short, I can be a real slob when I want to be. But when my stuff starts veering out of control, I just make a list of what needs to get done and get things back in place...until I fall off the organizational wagon again. 

At this point, you're probably hoping I'm making a list for where I can get some serious therapy. So to temporarily distract you from that thought, here are some meals I've recently made. For all but the sauce for the pasta dish, all the meal titles are links that will take you to the recipes:

Quick Bites


Beer Braised Chicken Thighs

This was a very tasty dish and the sauce was amazing. I didn't have any andouille, but substituted spicy Italian sausage. I ended up serving it over some boiled potatoes to sop up the juices, but the dish could easily be served on its own if starch isn't your thing. And if it isn't, I'm sorry to hear that.

Kung Pao Shrimp

Oh. My. Goodness. Do try this one. It's sooooo much better than whatever take-out you've had. I mean it. And don't get wigged out by the short cooking time for the shrimp. So many times they get left on the heat way too long and come out rubbery. This quick sear is perfection.
 

French Apple Cake

I decided to make this to satisfy a sweet craving my dearly beloved was having and to take half of it to our weekly Happy Hour gathering. Having both cake and custard elements, the texture is a nice alternative to a regular pie. I don't have a microwave, so instead of nuking the apple slices I steamed them in two batches for about a minute. Worked out great! After testing out a small slice of the cake, said dearly beloved made it very clear he wasn't interested in sharing the cake with others. Yeah well, half a cake is better than no cake, and I packed some slices for the Friday crowd. Must have been decent, 'cause there wasn't a crumb left to bring home. This might be a nice alternative to an apple pie for the holidays. 

Ciambotta (Italian Vegetable Stew)

Okay, even though I am totally ambivalent when it comes to veggies, even I recognized the potential yummy factor with this recipe. And we weren't disappointed. There were a couple of things I did differently though. As I just mentioned, we don't have a microwave, so using it for the eggplant wasn't going to work. Instead, I tossed the eggplant cubes with salt and let them sit and drain for about 45 minutes to extract the moisture. I also decided to roast the eggplant and zucchini (425 degrees for 20-25 minutes) before adding it to the pot. That really gave a nice layer of flavor and next time I'll roast off the potatoes as well. With the number of rainy days we've been having, this was a great comfort dish.

Pasta with Vodka, Tomato Cream Sauce

While living in the States, there was always a pint container of heavy cream or at least half-and-half in our fridge. Always. I mean next to bacon and butter, cream is an essential life ingredient. But when we moved here, finding cream was a challenge. As a result, I went through withdrawal, gnashed my teeth, shed tears, and got used to cooking without it. Okay, so maybe I exaggerate just a tad. But it was an adjustment. 

And then the most wonderful, amazing thing happened. A friend of ours, by the name of Cathie Kelly, happened to mention that there was a Mennonite farmer selling cream in town on Friday mornings. As she was going to pick some up anyway, I asked her to snag me some as well.

To pay tribute to this unexpected windfall, I decided to make some homemade pasta and bathe it in a vodka tomato cream sauce. When it came time to pour the cream into the pan, I was ready for it to do just that...pour. But this cream, this cream was thick and rich and plopped into the sauce. It also has more of a pale yellow color and a slight tang. It's the real deal. It's what cream is supposed to be in its natural state. It is my new best friend. 

The sauce turned out ridiculously good, so much so that I'll make it again and again. And just this past week, I discovered that one of the veggie places we frequent carries this very same cream on a fairly regular basis. Time to dig out all those cream sauce recipes that I thought were doomed for all time. YEAH!

Vietnamese "Banh Mi" Chicken Burgers

There were a couple of really excellent elements to this burger dish. For starters, the pickled carrots and cucumbers. Super easy to do, with a great sweet/sour taste. They also added a wonderful crunch to the sandwich. The soy sauce/sesame oil sauce was also nice, and one I could easily see being used over fish fillets and shrimp. Now as to the burgers. I wasn't thrilled with them. I mean, they were okay, but very bland. I have two in the freezer and when I make them, I plan to incorporate some of the sesame/soy sauce into them to see if that helps give them some kick. Another option would be to make the Asian Chicken Burgers I've done before.

As far as the potato salad, well, this is probably one of my favorite recipes. The sour cream element gives a great tang and is a nice alternative to mayo. I had way more dressing than I needed for the potatoes, and am thinking about incorporating it into omelets. 

Now I'm off to work on this week's menu...one aisle at a time.

Goodbye and Hello

Early this month, Tanya passed away. She was a sweet girl who did her best to keep up with Sam. But age and arthritis made it difficult for her to be very active.

In the 18 months that we owned her, she became part of our family. I'd like to think we provided her some creature comforts that she may not have had in the past. 

Whenever you lose a pet, it takes time to come to terms with it. And while we knew we wanted to get another dog at some point, we didn't want to rush into anything.

A few weeks went by, and we found out that friends of ours, who needed to move to Canada, were looking for someone to adopt their dog.

Ladies and gentlemen, please say hello to Lizi:

 

She's two-years old, about 40 (ish) pounds, and quite the looker. Lizi came to live with us this Thursday and made fast friends with Sam:

Once the introductions were over, these two decided some play time was in order. For the first time, in a long time, Sam has a playmate that can run as hard and fast as he can. It's such a cool thing to watch.

Olivia, our puppy, initially had her panties in a twist over our new arrival, but finally got over herself. Now the three of them hang out together, run like maniacs, and all is well with the world.

Now the cat, Bronte, has been a slightly different matter. It's only been today that she has deemed to come off of her perch on top of our closet for any extended amount of time to check out this new beast. She's still not 100% sold on Lizi, but I suspect she'll come around in time.

And speaking of Bronte and Olivia, they just turned one year old. Don't know where that time went. And it's hard to believe that when we adopted them, they looked like this:

And now?

Bronte and Olivia

Olivia went from weighing in at two pounds when we first got her to now being a solid 20-25 pounds. It now takes two hands to scoop her up, instead of a one hand grab.

Bronte weighed only one pound when she came to live with us. Now? Well, I don't want to say she is fat; more like pleasingly plump...well upholstered...Rubenesque. Okay, she's fat.

So there you have it, as far as the Wright pets go. Thank you Ed, Maria, and Thomas for sharing Lizi with us. She's a wonderful, wonderful dog.

Once this dratted rain lets up, I'll take and post more pictures of Lizi and the rest of the gang. Stay tuned.

You might also like...

• Say Hello To My Little Friend
• It's a Pupapalooza!
• Angel and Demon in a Three Pound Package
  

Rocking It Out In Ranchito

Boy, has our lane taken a beating. Granted, it was never in the greatest of shape in the almost 18 months we've lived here. But, after all the rain we had last month -- I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 - 20 inches -- plus the weekly appearance of the water delivery truck and occasional trash truck bouncing down the lane, we ended up with some major ruts.

A smooth driving surface it was not. Of course, pretty much all the unpaved roads in the area are facing the same problems, often much worse than what we had. For instance, Dave Rider over at Casa Winjama documented the situation on their road which leads to the ferry, and our local online news source carried stories about the road leading to Consejo.

Needless to say, the road department -- such as it is -- has quite a mess on their hands. And it's not like they have a ton of road repair equipment at their disposal. We knew we were so far off their radar to have our lane issues taken care of that we decided to take action on our own.

Working with our Ace Number One Groundskeeper, Fernando, we arranged to have a few dump truck loads of rock and marl delivered to various parts of the lane.

Fernando enlisted the help of his brother, Raphino, and the two of them went about the process of repairing the damaged areas. How? With a sledgehammer. Yup, they beat the crap out of those rocks until they were of a smaller size, and carted them to the various potholes and ruts along the lane. 

Now bear in mind, it was beastly hot...it was humid...it was not the kind of weather that any sane person would want to wield a sledgehammer for eight hours a day. But they did. They were maniacs.

Fernando (left) and Raphino working on one of the marl piles

After the rocks were in place, the guys then used the marl to cover them and make a smoother surface. That meant shoveling the dirt into the wheelbarrow multitudinous times and carting it to the broken up rocks.

All told, it took them about 10 days to finish the job. Is it the prettiest surface you might see? Nope. But, it's so much better than it was, and at least we can now navigate ourselves out to the highway without too much fear of getting caught up to our hubcaps in mud.